Solderless terminal



1954 H. J. HAMMERLY 2,666,910

SOLDERLESS TERMINAL Filed Dec. 19, 1950 Invefitor': Herman J. Hammer'ly,

y w v is Attorney.

Patented Jan. 19, 1954 SOLDERLESS TERMINAL Herman J. Hammerly, Plainville, Conn., assignor, by mesne assignments, to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application December 19, 1950, Serial No. 201,667

1 Claim.

My invention relates to electrical terminals or binding posts as they are sometimes called and particularly to a construction by which a conductor can be fixedly held by a terminal construction without the use of solder.

In its preferred form, the construction consists of a minimum number of pieces.

One object is to facilitate the connection of a conductor to a terminal plate.

Another object is to facilitate the act of clamping and unclamping a conductor.

Another object is to provide for a terminal which will hold a wire effectively.

Another object is to provide a terminal which will securely hold a braided or stranded wire.

Another object is to provide a terminal which will not turn when rotating the clamp screw.

In the preferred form, a cup-like construction is provided with passages in its wall for the insertion of a conductor and with a collar-like extension for guiding the screw driver.

Fig. 1 is a transverse sectional view of one embodiment of my invention showing a conductor in place in the cup beneath a terminal clamping screw.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the plane of the line 2--2 of Fig. l, the terminal plate being omitted.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the cup of Figs. 1 and 2.

The metallic terminal plate or strip 5 represents any part of an electrical device requiring the connection of a conductor such as 6. The conductor would ordinarily be provided with insulation 1. A screw 8 having a slotted or recessed head 9 serves to clamp the conductor to the said plate or terminal. I provide a cup-like member or collar 10 which surrounds the head of the screw. The cup-like member has a bottom wall II with a passage through which the screw 8 passes and threads into the terminal plate 5. I also provide suitable means for preventing the collar from rotating about the screw, one such means being one or more sharp pointed projections or detents 12 on the under side of the bottom wall I which fit into recess in the plate 5.

The side wall of the collar I is provided with apertures l4 and through which the conductor is passed. The collar also preferably has other apertures l1 and iii in its side wall, the apertures l4, l5, l1 and I8 being arranged in quadrature, i. e., spaced apart by 90 around the cup I0. The conductor 6 may be inserted through any pair of such apertures which are not diametrically opposite each other, i. e., any adjacent pair of apertures.

It will be obvious that such a construction facilitates the connection of a conductor to a support. The upper part of the cup I!) constitutes a guard to hold centrally a screw driver so that the driver will not slip oi as frequently happens in driving or retracting a binding screw. The upper edge of the cup 10, being uninterrupted, serves to prevent the wall from spreading.

It will be noted in Fig. 1 that the apertures I4, I5, I! and 18 are spaced above the bottom wall ll of the cup l0 so that the conductor 8 is deformed between the apertures and jammed against the bottom of the cup between the lower edges of the apertures through which the conductor 6 passes.

In the preferred form shown, the conductor 6 is threaded through the side apertures and beneath the screw head. When the screw is fully seated, the conductor is bent abruptly adjacent the bottom edges of the apertures so that the conductor is held by the abrupt bends as well as by the frictional resistance produced by the clamping action of the head of the screw.

This arrangement is especially desirable for the use of braided or stranded wires, the ends of which are difiicult to hold.

I claim:

A solderless connector for electrically and mechanically connecting a wire conductor to a conducting terminal plate having a screw-threaded opening comprising a cup-shaped member having a flat bottom wall with a central guide opening therein, and a side wall having at least one pair of opposed wire receiving apertures between the upper edge of the side wall and said bottom wall, the bottom edges of the apertures and said bottom wall, the bottom edges of the being disposed above said bottom wall and forming ledges, a screw having its slotted head lying wholly within said cup-shaped member and its shank portion extending freely through the opening in said bottom wall into threaded engagement with said threaded opening in the terminal plate, the head of said screw being smaller in outside diameter than the inside diameter of the cup-shaped member and being adapted to bend and clamp a wire conductor extending across the cup-shaped member and through the openings in the side wall, over the ledges and against the bottom wall of the cup-shaped member, the cup-shaped member being sulficiently deep so that its upper edge protrudes above the slotted head of the screw when the screw is in operative position for guiding a screw driver into its slot and for preventing the screw driver from slipping out of the slot, and detent means interlocking said cup-shaped member with the upper surface of said terminal plate whereby the cup-shaped member is prevented from rotating relative to the terminal plate when the screw is being turned to clamping position. I

HERMAN a. HANMERBY.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PA'I'ENTS Number Name 1,758,978 R0581! May 20 1939 Number 5 Number Name Date Cornelia Nov. 13, 1945 Von Hoorn May 24, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date great Britain :1 Jone 8, 1933 Germany -1 Jan. 4, 1935 

